Leader's Wives

It sounds a bit like the latest "soap opera", but I'm really thinking of Mrs Cameron, Mrs Brown and Mrs Clegg!




34 years old Mrs Samantha Cameron is a director of the Bond Street stationery firm Smythson.

48 years old Mrs Sarah Brown is a public relations executive.

Mrs Nick Clegg (Míriam González Durantez) who has been maried to Nick Clegg for 10 years.

It’s good to tell that we must be fast approaching a General Election. Have you noticed how the leader’s wives have suddenly been given star billing? They get wheeled out at this time to show how they support their husbands, and to give sound bite quotes on how good their husbands are.

Am I being cynical, or do the powers that be really think that the wives are really going to influence the way I vote come the General Election? In all honesty I couldn’t really care less if David Cameron is untidy when he is working in the kitchen. That doesn’t make him any less able to be the Prime Minister.

We seem to be getting a plethora of “first ladies” featuring on TV and in the press. What a shame we can’t get some sensible political discussion between the big three on how they hope to rescue this once great country from the mire it has got into.

How about being really revolutionary and suggesting that the country is run according to the Ten Commandments? This would instantly solve a lot of our problems I’m sure!

Willy Russell's "Blood Brothers"

We went to see the musical “Blood Brothers” at the Alhambra last might. This was due to the fact that Sarah & Greg had bought us tickets for the show as a present.The West End production has been running since 1988, making it one of the longest running musicals! It was written and composed by Willy Russell.

Those of you unfamiliar with the story will find a very brief plot outline following….

Set in Britain, Willy Russell's Blood Brothers tells the story of fraternal twins who are separated at birth. One brother is raised in a family of great privilege and one brother is raised in poverty. Even with their different socioeconomic backgrounds, the two boys end up becoming best friends until a misunderstanding leads to a tragic ending.

Mrs Johnson & Edward (the twin who is given away)

It was a first rate production, and the cast received a standing ovation at the end of the performance.

Dig out Your Shillelagh! Dust Down Your Shamrock and Toast Him in Guinness!

Begorrah! It's St Patrick's Day tomorrow!



One of the emblems of St Patrick is the clover (or shamrock)

It is supposed to be very lucky if you accidentally find a four leaf clover!

The Irish don't miss a trick do they? They even have the emblem emblazoned on their national airline - Aer Lingus!

But the American Irish also manage to celebrate St Patrick's Day in style. Last year they turned the Chicago River in Illinois green!

So what do we know about St Patrick?

Little is known of Patrick's early life, though we know he was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon in the Church, like his father before him. At the age of sixteen he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown.

According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again says that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to save the Irish, and indeed, we know he was successful at this, focusing on converting royalty and aristocracy as well as the poor. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit) to the Irish people.

After nearly thirty years of teaching and spreading God's word he died on 18 March, 461 AD, and was buried at Downpatrick, so tradition says. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity, and, as such, he is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people.

Originally the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue however over the years the color green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.

Then in 1798 in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick. The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from the song of the same name.

So dig out your Shillelagh, Dust down your shamrocks and toast him with a pint of Guinness!

How to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity

I received an e mail today which I really must share with you....

It's called How to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity!


1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. On all your cheque stubs, write ' For Marijuana'

3. Skip down the street Rather Than Walk and see how many looks you get.

4. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat,with a serious face.

5. Sing Along At The Opera.

6. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'

7. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the Car Park, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives!
They're Loose!'

8. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity?


9. PICK UP A BOX OF CONDOMS AT THE PHARMACY, GO TO THE COUNTER AND WITH A STRAIGHT FACE ASK WHERE THE FITTING ROOM IS.

It's Called THERAPY!

Mothering Sunday Day Out

On Sunday we called over to Ilkley to collect Nana for her Mothering Sunday trip out, but before leaving I took a few shots of her garden.

Snowdrops in the garden at Victoria Avenue

Assorted flowers in the garden at Victoria Avenue

A fine display of Crocuses

It being Mothering Sunday we took Nana out for a meal at Town End Farm shop in Airton.

This has become something of a tradition as we have done this for the last few years. The Farm shop produces delicious home made meals – soups, quiches, pork pies, chicken & ham Ploughmans, 2 cheese ploughmans, baked potatoes with various fillings and even more delicious home made sticky toffee pudding, stickly chocolate pudding, etc.

The entrance to Town End Farm Shop

After eating, we usually take Nana on a trip through Kirkby Malham and Malham, then up to Arncliffe.

The churchyard always has a profusion of snowdrops at this time of year.

Seen in the churchyard of Arncliffe Church



The snowdrops were out in the churchyard at Arncliffe.




Arncliffe Church Tower




Arncliffe Church- Choir, Altar and East Windows




Arncliffe Church - a typlical stone built Dales Church




Lock on the Village Stocks - just outside the churchyard!




Arncliffe Village stocks

Hve You Baked Your Simnel Cake Yet?

Today (Sunday) is known as Mothering Sunday in the Churches Calendar NOT MOTHERS DAY - which is an American addition!

Mothering Sunday is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe. Secularly it became a celebration of motherhood. It is increasingly being called Mother's Day, although that other holiday has a completely different origin.

Did you know that a religious festival celebrating motherhood has been existent in Europe since neolithic times! In the Roman religion the Hilaria festival was held in honour of the mother goddess Cybele and it took place during mid-March. As the Roman Empire and Europe converted to Christianity, this celebration became part of the liturgical calendar and was known as Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent to honour the Virgin Mary and the “mother church”.

During the sixteenth century, people returned to their mother church for a service to be held on Laetare Sunday. This was held at either a large local church, or more often than not the nearest Cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this preceded the term Mothering Sunday is unclear.

In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mothers and other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since in other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours.


Many churches give out bunches of Daffodils or Primroses for the children to take to their mothers on Mothering Sunday.

A Simnel Cake

In some places it is traditional to bake a Simnel Cake. The Simnel cake is a fruit cake. A flat layer of marzipan (sugar almond paste) is placed on top of and decorated with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles minus Judas, who betrayed Christ.

The word simnel probably derived from the latin word ‘simila’, meaning fine, wheaten flour from which the cakes were made.

A Simnel Cake is still made in many parts of England today. It was not eaten on Mothering Sunday because of the rules of Lent, (fasting etc.) It is now more commonly made for, and eaten on Easter Day .

HAPPY MOTHERING SUNDAY!

Time For a Change?

Today and tomorrow are “think about it time”. I have had a reasonable offer made for my 10 year old Zafira against either a 3 years old Zafira or a 4 years old Meriva, so let’s have a look at the pros and cons of swapping my car……

The Vauxhall Meriva

The Zafira is now 10 years old, it has almost 100,000 miles on the clock (the highest mileage I’ve ever had on a car!), and, so far, it has cost me nothing other than the normal upkeep costs – petrol, oil, tyres (3 sets in 100.000 miles), brake pads (2 renewals in 100.000 miles), one new exhaust system, a new battery etc. So I really cannot complain. It has served me well during the time I have owned it. By the law of averages it is sooner or later going to cost me for something more substantial – maybe a new clutch, gearbox, catalytic converter, suspension, engine, and with the age and mileage it is not worth spending big money on it.

After ten years there are some niggling little problems I have put off sorting out. Rear wiper does not wipe cleanly since having a new rear window fitted. Nearside rear door speaker doesn’t work (probably a broken wire in the wiring harness which passes from the door pillar to the door itself.) The stay on the rear nearside door has broken loose and needs re welding. Offside rear door window has stopped winding (again a broken wire in the wiring harness which passes from the door pillar to the door itself – this is for sure, because if you wiggle the harness the window will work!) The high rear braking light has worked loose from its fitting and I have secured it with Duct tape! I know one of the rear number plate lights is not working and as the screws have rusted into the fitting I have found it impossible to take it off and fit a new bulb.

The Meriva Dashboard

All the above point to the fact that it is time to say goodbye!

I originally bought the Zafira with the idea that I could transport grandchildren and parents, but this has never really been the case. In fact I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that rear row of seats have been used. They are still in “mint condition”

So the next decision has to be do we downsize? We don’t really need a 7 seater! The obvious choice is a Meriva, which is basically the 5 seater version of the Zafira, but a little smaller. It still has the option to have 5, 4, 3 or 2 seats, as it utilizes the “flexspace seating system” similar to the Zafira.

FlexSpace Seating System on the Vauxhall Meriva. When the centre arm rest/seat is folded down the seats slide sideways and also move backwards if desired.

Five Seats

Three Seats

Two (front) Seats

I have been looking at a second hand Meriva Active Special Edition.

This is what one of the reviews had to say about them........

The Meriva has been a key protagonist in the development of the supermini-MPV market sector, which insiders believe will really take off over the next few years. Fords Fusion and Fiats Idea have staked their claim too but the Meriva is equally adept with its versatile FlexSpace seating system. If a standard supermini can’t quite cut it space wise, a car like this is a sound alternative. You loose a little in the handling department and the styling won’t be as dynamic but the extra roominess is tangible and the adaptable seating means you can tailor the available space to your needs.

Engine-wise, theres a choice of 1.4i 16v, 1.6i 16v or 1.7CDTi 16v engines. The one I have been loking at is a 1.6 16 valve petrol engine.

Equipment runs to air conditioning, dark tinted Solar Protect glass, 16-inch seven-spoke alloys, a stereo-radio/CD player, steering wheel audio controls, a leather covered steering wheel, FlexSpace rear seating, chrome effect instrument surrounds and Charcoal or Blue Enigma interior trim.

Pateley Bridge and How Stean Gorge Cafe Again!

How Stean Gorge

We visited Pateley Bridge again today, and went up to How Stean Gorge (to the café) to sample their meals. Dot had something Veggie (nut type cutlet) and mashed potatoed, peas, carrots and cabbage, whilst I had a cheeseburger (steak supplied from the local butcher – none of your GM rubbish, and proper cheese [none of the rubber variety] with onions) and chips. Both meals were excellent and very good value for money. We will no doubt be making it in our way to call here again for a meal now that the Miners Arms at Greenhow has closed its doors!

The guy who owns the café has a rather fancy Yamaha Claviolina in the room (which at first sight makes you not sure wether you should drive it, fly it or play it), and the last time we were there he persuaded me to play him a few tunes, and tried to get me to come up on a Sunday to entertain the customers! Today there were a couple of locals in having a meal, and he said to them, “You should hear this guy play he’s terrific!” Once again I was persuaded to play the instrument for a few minutes.

Coincidentally the couple who were eating had a Vauxhall Meriva, so I questioned them about it. They were very happy with it, after having downsized from a 1.9 VW Deisel. Stranger still they had bought it from Nidderdale Motors. Then in conversation with the girl who served us I discovered that she too had a bought a second hand car from Nidd Vale Motors. Both of the car owners spoke highly of the garage, which had been in the same family for in excess of 30 years.

After eating, the cafe owner suggested that Ruby might like a walk down by the gorge, and said, “It’s quite safe you can let her off the lead it’s all fenced off”. So she and Dot went exploring whilst I paid the bill and had a look round the shop.

Now it might be farewell to the old Zafira...........

After this we called into Pateley Bridge, but this time with a mission in mind. I had arranged to see the saleman at Nidderdale Motors with the possible option of saying goodbye to my Zafira if the price was right! Unseen he had quoted me what I thought was not a bad price against either a Zafira (3 years old with 10.000 miles on the clock - a motability car) or a Meriva (4 years old with 16,000 miles on the clock) both had full service histories and he had maintained them from new. I put him to the test and took along all the service history for my Zafira plus the log book and said, alright now give me a price. He walked round my Zafira and eventually upped his offer by another £300!

I had a test drive of the Meriva and was suitably impressed.

Two old codgers really don’t need a seven seater any more, and there is plenty of room in the back of the Meriva for a labrador!

I may just get back to him. In which case you might well see the Bentley Mafia in a tinted windowed Meriva Active Special Edition.

He is obviously interested in a deal as he said, "I will be in the garage tomorrow", but he’s going to have to wait at least until Monday before I ring him back!

Insulation Fitting

Cavity Wall Insulation


Loft Insulation

Next week we are having wall and loft insulation fitted, and this entails a little bit of preparation before the fitters arrive. I have been told that they will need access to the sides of the loft, so that they can lay the insulation material.

When you have lived in a house for forty plus years you tend to have gathered quite a substantial amount of goods and chattels which “May come in useful one day so we won’t throw them away just yet.” The problem is when you have a substantial sized loft, which over the years has been fitted out with shelving there is even more space to save those things that “may come in useful one day!”

Tomorrow sees the start of the big sort out. I envisage much anguished discussion on what has to go and what must be kept! For example there are toys which all three of the children have had during their growing up years – childrens chairs, dolls cradle, dolls push chair, toy garage assorterd toys and puzzles and gamesetc. etc. etc. Then there are about six or seven suitcases, (probably filled with curtains, cushions etc.) LP records, open reel tapes (do you remember those?) boxes of cassettes, boxes of video tapes, record players, old video recorders, loudspeakers, leaflets, brochures and booklets on places we have visited during our 40 years or so of holidays… and the list goes on!

The Ten Commandments (1923) Version

I have just been watching ther 1923 version of Cecil B De Mille’s The Ten Commandments (in glorious Black & White – and silent too!)

Considering it was made in 1923 it has some quite spectacular effects – particularly the parting of the Red Sea, which was done by placing two blocks of gelatine side by side, heating them until they melted then running the footage in reverse! The overall effect is quite astounding.

The one thing that did strike me was the vast amount of gesticulating by all concerned. Arms were waved like windmill sails in a force nine gale. Backs of hands were placed across foreheads and much swooning took place. Although very dated, it told the story quite well, but in a very sactimonious way.

Particularly jarring is the second part of the film, which takes us to present day (1923) San Francisco, where we meet a mother and her two sons. The mother is an avid Bible beater and preaches to the two offspring. One of the brothers is a bit of a goody goody, whilst the other is rebellious, and goes out of his way to antagonise his mother by showing his lack of belief in the Ten Commandments. The two brothers are rivals for the love of Mary, and come into conflict when John discovers Dan has used shoddy materials to construct a cathedral.

The melodrama hits top gear when the building falls down and kills the mother!

Start the Week With a Smile

Su Wong marries Lee Wong. The next year,the Wongs have a new baby.
The nurse brings out a lovely, healthy, bouncy, but definitely a Caucasian, WHITE baby boy.

'Congratulations,' says the nurse to the new parents. 'Well Mr. Wong, what will you and Mrs. Wong name the baby?'

The puzzled father looks at his new baby boy and says,
'Well, two Wong's don't make a white,so I think we will name him...

Are you ready for this?..........................











SUM TING WONG



A Yorkshire man takes his cat to the vet.
Yorkshireman: "Ayup, lad, I need to talk to thee about me cat."
Vet: "Is it a tom?"
Yorkshireman: "Nay, I've browt it wi'mi."



A Yorkshireman's dog dies and as it was a favourite pet he decides to have a gold statue made by a jeweller to remember the dog by.
Yorkshireman: "Can tha mek us a gold statue of yon dog?"
Jeweller: "Do you want it eighteen carat?"
Yorkshireman: "No I want it chewin' a bone yer daft bugger!"

A Saturday Afternoon Out

Yesterday (Saturday) we were going to go over and visit Nana, but she decided we were not needed, so we twiddled our thumbs for a bit and then decided we would go out for a ride. After mulling over the various possibilities we ended up deciding to go to Pateley Bridge.

On the way there the weather turned to sleet, but not being put off we continued on our merry way, after all we could go to the Miner’s Arms at Greenhow for a good meal and thaw out there, and Ruby was always welcome too.

We spent a little while in Pateley, which resembled a ghost town, it being “off season” and only the locals were likely to be doing a bit of shopping. I called in the “Help the Aged” shop, but didn’t find any books CD’s or DVD’s that took my fancy, whilst Dot went up the High Street, but on meeting up again declared that there was nothing of interest in the shops for her too.

After a bit of racking of brains we decided to have a look in the shops by Nidderdale Motors, and it was just as I was parking there that Dot saw a Vauxhall Meriva and a Vauxhall Zafira on the forecourt, so we ambled across to have a look at them. They were both about three years old, and the Zafira only had 10,000 miles on the clock. It turned out it had been a Motability Car for an elderly person, and had obviously been well looked after, as well as having a low milage. NO, WE WERE NOT TEMPTED TO BUY!

Then we went for a short run up to How Stean Gorge,

and had a snack in the Café there.

Our intention was to have a meal later at the Miners Arms at Greenhow, but when we eventually got there, the Miner’s Arms was shut and boarded up – having apparantly gone the way of a goodly number of pubs. We came back via Skipton, and were going to eat at the Craven Heifer on Grassington Road, but there was nothing that really appealed to us on the menu, so we returned home!

Friendly Pigeon

Yesterday afternoon, as I was sitting listening to music on my ipod, there was a cry of “Come here quickly!”

It turned out that there was a pigeon standing on the landing window cill. His feathers covered his legs so we couldn’t see if he had been ringed or not. We couldn’t decide if he was exhausted, hungry or lost, but he didn’t seem in the least phased by us standing close up to him on the other side of the window.

Eventually I opened the window very slowly, and apart from him moving to one end of the window cill, he stayed there. I put him some bread out in case he was hungry, but he ignored it. Having my camera handy I thought I would take a few shots of him. He didn’t even flinch when some of them were flash shots!

He stayed for about 25 minutes, then just upped and flew away.

21st Century Sound Reproduction and Storage

I had an Apple iPod Shuffle bought by Rachel & Gary last year, and despite being fairly tecnologically and electronically minded, I have never got round to firing it up and downloading any music on it. However, as a present for Father’s Day last year Rachel got Gary to download about 1Gb of classical music on to it for me!

Today it has had its opening ceremony! Whilst Hannah was busy filling in a job application on my computer, I thought I would give the ipod a go. I carefully followed the instructions in the enclosed booklet, and I am, at present, listening to Luciano Pavarotti singing O Sole Mio. I was very pleasntly surprised with the quality of the sound which issues from the individual earpieces.

I had always thought that earpieces so tiny would produce a thin, tinny sound – but no! The sound coming from them is rich and full bodied, and the stereo separation is extremely vivid. In fact, truth to tell, the sound quality, frequency range and stereo separation is some of the best I have heard in ages!

I have already downloaded the ipod shuffle manual onto the computer, so I can learn how to utilise itunes, and, if necessary downlaod some of my favourite CD’s onto it.

One of the “Pluses” I have discovered is that when listening to the music (or whatever) on the earpieces, you are not attached to a large piece of hi-fi equipment, and with the tiny ipod shuffle attached to a part of your clothing, you are free to wander from room to room and still enjoy the music!

The only downside is that if the music is playing at a reasonable volume, you are apt to miss the knocking on the door! Today I was expecting the burglar alarm service engineer to call between 09.00 and 13.00, and he had arrived but got no response to his knocking on the door. He had the good sense to phone me, as he was sure that somebody was in the house. It was only when I heard the phone go that I realised somebody was outside, knocking at the back door!

It Could Only Happen In Ireland!

I'm sorry if I appear to be having a go at the Irish this week, but they do source some wonderful stories don't they?





Lawnmower and plane in near miss at Dublin Airport


A near miss between a ride-on lawnmower and a Boeing 757 landing at Dublin Airport could have had catastrophic consequences, a report has said.
The plane, carrying 198 passengers and eight crew, was returning from Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt on 29 May last year.

The incident was investigated by the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit.

Its final report, which was released on Wednesday, found that the mower did not have adequate radio communications or lighting equipment.
The mower has since been replaced.

The final report states that there were deficiencies in one airport regulation and in training of Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) personnel involved in this incident. It also recommends that the DAA review their training programmes.

Visibility was poor when the plane landed on Runway 10 at about 0300 BST and was decelerating when the cockpit crew noticed something on the right-hand side of the runway.
"I could have sworn I saw a man riding a lawn mower," the co-pilot is reported as saying.

The matter was immediately reported to the Air Movement Controller in Dublin Airport who replied: "I don't believe it. They told me they were clear of the runway."

The groundskeeper got off the runway seconds after the aircraft passed him.
The plane parked as planned and everyone disembarked safely. No one was injured.
The investigator's report states that there had been problems cutting the grass at the airport due to bad weather and a number of pilots had reported that lights were obstructed by tall grass.

The DAA had decided that cutting the grass was a priority and that was being done on the night in question.

However, grass-cutting operations were halted due to poor visibility and while two of the three grass-cutting machines left the area, there was a misunderstanding with the driver of the third vehicle.

He did not leave the area immediately and was instead proceeding down the runway to take a slip road when the aircraft landed.

The moral of this story is: If you live near an airport make sure that you have the necessary radio communications and lighting equipment fitted to your lawnmower!

Here We Go, Here We Go, Here We Go (Again!)

I wonder if you’ve heard the latest rumours on the Ashley/Cheryl front. It seems that after announcements of a split by her spokesman, Cheryl Cole is still prepared to give it another go!

The Daily Mail has reported that Cheryl Cole has agreed to have counselling sessions with husband Ashley, despite his alleged infidelities.

Last week the distraught singer publicly announced she was separating from her husband of three and a half years. However, she has now reportedly ‘given in’ to Ashley’s pleas for another chance and will go with him to see a marriage counsellor.

Cheryl is said to be feeling partly to blame for the problems in their rocky marriage. Along with Ashley’s suspected four indiscretions with other women, Cheryl reportedly feels she has not been a good enough wife due to her busy career as an X Factor judge and singer, and that all of these factors have lead to the breakdown of their relationship.

In 2008, Cheryl went back to Ashley after it was reported he slept with hairdresser Aimee Walton. Will she really go back to him this time, or is it game over for the Coles?

When will the silly girl realise that a leopard doesn’t change its spots? Four indiscretions and she’s still prepared to give it another try. She’s either madly in love with him or a simple fool!

Recovering from an Uplifting Experience

I had an e mail sent from a friend which I opened this morning. It shows a series of photographs taken at a small fishing harbour in Ireland. The first shot is of a recovery vehicle complete with crane, hoisting a car out of the harbour.

A few shots later we see the recovery vehicle is overturning and also falling into the harbour! But that’s not the end of the matter.

A second and larger recovery vehicle is summoned, and this suceeds in recovering the car, and then attempts to recover the first recovery vehicle, but……………............................................

you’ve guessed it – it too takes a tumble into the harbour.

A third vehicle is summoned and commences trying to recover the two recovery vehicles. There were no more photos, so I presume it was successful!

It could only happen to the Irish!

It's a Welsh Celebration Today (not as a Result of a Rugby Match!)

What do David Niven, Saint David, and Glenn Miller have in Common? Read on and you’ll find out!

If today was in the year 2012, it would be February 29th due to the fact that once every four years we have what is called a Leap Year. This is to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year.
Because seasons and astronomical events do not repeat in a whole number of days, a calendar that had the same number of days in each year would, over time, drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting an additional day into the year, the drift can be corrected. A year that is not a leap year is called a Common Year.

Put another way, it takes the earth 365.2422 days to travel round the sun, so we correct the 0.2422 every four years by adding an extra day to the year (Feb 29th). Those bright sparks and mathematicians amongst you will have noticed that 4 x 0.2422 does not equal one exactly. So we have to refine the rule and there have been various propositions on this. One is that we refine the calendar every 8,000 years, whilst another suggests every 4,000 years. A third option is to revise every 128 years, which would mean the next revision year for the rule would be in 2048!

The composer Gioacchino Rossini (he of the William Tell Overture fame) was born on February 29th in the year 1792, and as he can only celebrate his birthday every four years that means he is now only fifty four and a half years old!

But today is March 1st, and this is celebrated as St David’s Day. St David was thought to be King Arthur’s uncle (I’ll bet you didn’t know that did you?) He is the patron Saint of Wales, and the Welsh celebrate his day by eating daffodils and wearing leeks (Should that be other way round???)

Tonight the Eldwick & Gilstead Male Voice Choir will be only singing Welsh Songs at their practice, and will celebrate St David’s Day with a bowl of Leek and Potato Soup!

Both Glenn Miller (the band leader)

and David Niven (the film star) have their birthdays on St David’s Day.

Happy St David's Day!